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With Storm Brian on the way just days after the whole country was on red alert due to Storm Ophelia, employers may once again need to consider how they deal with the "grey" area of paying employees when it is unsafe to attend work due to unforeseen weather circumstances arising.

Whilst the focus of the long awaited Work Place Relations Act has been on the much needed changes to the employment disputes structures, a very important change to the accrual of sick leave for employees who are absent on long term sick leave is also being introduced.

A recent report published by the Small Firms Association indicated that over 4 million days had been lost in 2014 due to absenteeism at a cost of €490 million and that back and neck pain was the reason that was noted on medical certs in over 14% of all absences. Employers need to ensure that they manage absenteeism correctly in the workplace to minimise the potential costs to the business.